The Trouble With the Mind Stone
by PrincessAurora1000
Summary: When a sorcerer attacks a heavily guarded SHIELD base secrets are revealed. Was Loki really to blame for the attack on New York?
1. A Sorcerer Arrives

The fortress stood all be itself surrounded by the desert. A small oasis of life in this dead land. A heavily, heavily guarded oasis.

Virgo smiled. Despite all that security, there would be no problems with him getting in. His prize was just inside and his revenge was only moments away. No more death will be caused by that monster.

Taking a deep breath Virgo summoned his magic to him. A puddle formed at his feet. Virgo sank into the puddle and came out of it inside the fortress. The fortress felt more like a space ship to him than anything else. The walls and floor where made almost completely of metal that looked as if they had just been polished. Every step one took seemed to echo off of the floors and walls.

This would work in Virgo's favor. Anyone who came this way would be easily detected.

No sooner had that thought came to his mind when Virgo heard the sound of two guards making their way up the hall. Virgo pressed himself up against the wall as they walked by. The guards pay him no mind; Virgo's cloak had done its work. As the guards walked past him Virgo fall into step behind them. Magic could only get him so far. It had taken him months to locate this place, but he had been unable to find out where his target was in this fortress. Which made stealth all the more important. He hoped that by following these two he could find his target quicker.

The less time he spent here the better.

He followed the two guards down two more halls, till he heard voices coming from a room to the side.

"You know what your problem is, you take everything a little to seriously," said one of the voices.

"Tony your failure to think things through nearly got you and Bruce killed," said another voice.

"That is an exaggeration, I had everything perfectly under control," said the first voice.

"That was under control," said the other voice.

"Bruce started to turn green," the second voice said.

"Yes, but he did not hulk out, so for all we know he could have simply had eaten some expired tuna," the first voice said.

Virgo took a moment to look into the room. Standing in the middle of the room was a man dress in red and gold armor with his helmet sitting on the table next to him. The man standing next to him was wearing a red, white and blue jumpsuit, with an expression on his face that simply talking to the man in the armor was aging him ten years.

"While I agree that Tony did not have this thought through, does he ever really have anything thought out," said a third voice that Virgo hadn't noticed. The owner of the voice was hidden behind the door, so Virgo could not get a look at him. "We did manage to get an idea on where they are keeping the specter."

This really got Virgo's attention, that specter had one of the Infinity Stones in it. He stepped closer without thinking.

The owner of the third voice came into view. He unlike his companions he was dressed in clothes that Virgo had seen others on this world wear, a simple shirt and jeans.

"There someone out there," he said.

The man in the armor pulled open the door, Virgo having barely gotten out of the way from being hit by it.

"There is no one there," he said.

"The other guy can sense him," the man in jeans said.

"Bruce I think you may just be a little whined up, I'm telling you there is no one there," the man in the armor said swigging his arms around. He caught both himself and Virgo by surprise when his arm hit Virgo in the stomach.

The man in the armor reacted quickly, grapping Virgo's shirt and smashing him into the wall beside him. The focus of the hit caused Virgo's cloaking spell to drop making him visible to everyone in the room. Virgo noticed that there were three other people in the room as well. A red headed woman in a black jumpsuit, a man in a sleeveless jumpsuit with a bow and arrow across his back and a blond haired man dressed as an Asgardian.

Wasting no time Virgo sent a blast at the armored man holding him. The sent him across the room and through a window on the far side of the room. Virgo than waved his hand turning the arrow that had been sent his way into a flower.

This was not a fight that Virgo wanted. He had hoped to get in and take the prisoner, completely unnoticed. It appeared that that was not going to be how things played out. All because he couldn't ignore one conversation.

Before Virgo could do anything else he was kicked in the gut. The woman in black had made it across the room. She did not leave it at a hit in the gut, she kept going. Virgo never thought he would fight against a woman this strong, but she held her own a lot better than most men. Virgo however, was fast and throw her across the room as well.

These people were not giving him any wiggle room. Defiantly some of the finest warriors, Virgo fought. Only moments ago they had been arguing with each other and than when a threat appeared out of seemly nowhere, they fought together almost as if they were one being. This was a group of warriors that knew each other well.

And the only reason that Virgo was in a fight with them was because he allowed himself to get distracted.

The fight tore through not only the room that the warriors were having their discussion in, but also through most of the compound.

Virgo magic kept him from being easily defeated, but it would not protect him for long.

Virgo took a hit in the chest from the Asgardian with his hammer. The hit made Virgo have to stop and take a breath. Because of this he did not notice the man behind, until he felt a shock going through his back.

Virgo collapsed holding on to conscious long enough to see a man in an eye patch walk around him.

Fury looked down at the man laying on the floor.

"Who will like to tell me, how one man managed to not only get around my security unnoticed but was also able to cause this much damage?"

"He is one of the most powerful sorcerers I have ever seen, powerful enough to challenge both my brother and mother together," Thor said as he watched guards run in to take the intruder in.

"Take him to the prison ward," Fury said and than turned back to his team. "That does not answer my questions."

"Whatever, it was he only failed because of a moment of careless," Captain America said. "We didn't even know he was there until the Hulk sensed him."

"Well, I want to know why he was here," Fury said. "Thor, Cap when he wakes up he I want you to find out why he was here and what he was after."

"Well have fun talking with the crazy man," Tony said.

"Stark, you and Miss Romanoff can look into how he had managed to get past security," Fury said turning to Tony after he spoke.

"Doesn't sound like much fun," Tony said.

"Does it look like I care," Fury said, "I don't find it have to have another one of my bases destroyed because some lunatic thinks that is the best thing to do with his time."

"Figures, we'revstill cleaning up the mess that Loki left when we get a new magical crazy to deal with," Clint says.


	2. Discover

Virgo paced in his cell.

He had had everything planned out. By now he should have gotten to the prisoner did the ritual and be gone. Instead he sat here in these Terrans' cell. This was a setback he could not afford.

Virgo thoughts were interrupted by the opening of the door to the room of his cell and in walked two of the warriors he fought, a man in a red, white and blue jumpsuit and the Asgardian. Virgo could tell from his dress that he was an Asgardian noble. In fact, with his armor he appeared to be a pretty high ranking Asgardian.

"We will like to know why you felt the need to sneak into one of our most heavily guarded compounds?" the men in the jumpsuit asked.

Virgo smirked. These warriors cut right to the chase, something that he could appreciate. From what he learned in his earlier fight these warriors were ones who would do what needed to be done to protect what was theirs. Maybe once they know why he came they will be willing to help him complete his mission.

"I have come to protect the galaxy from a great threat," Virgo answered.

This caused the man in the jumpsuit's eyebrows to shot up.

"That does not explain why you attacked this compound," he said.

"I was looking for the one called Loki," Virgo said.

"If you see Loki as a threat I can assure you he is where he can harm no one anymore," the Asgardian said.

"Loki is not the threat I am worried about," Virgo explained. "I am fighting against a much stronger foe; however, I need Loki in order to defeat that foe."

"And why is that?" the Asgardian asked.

"I'm am working to bring down the villain known as Thanos. This mad man has destroyed millions of lives, hundreds of worlds with no end in sight. He has managed to do this with a magic artifact known as the Infinity Gauntlet. The gauntlet itself is powerless but when combined with the Infinity Stones it is an unstoppable weapon. Luckily Thanos has lost all put one of these stones. The stone he managed to keep is known as the Mind Stone. This stone gives him the ability to control anyone he wishes." Virgo said.

"This is it does not explain what your quest has to do with Loki," the Asgardian said.

"I was getting there," Virgo said doing his best to keep his patience. "When the stones were taken from Thanos Asgard played a large rule in hiding the stones. So when an Asgardian prince was seen on a planet that Thanos' men were looking through, an opportunity was seen. Prince Loki was captured and the Mind Stone used on him. Seeing how the Mind Stone allows an individual to keep their personality and knowledge, only making them use these traits for the stone's wielder, no one on Asgard would be the wiser."

The Asgardian looked like someone had hit him in the head with his own hammer.

"This Thanos was controlling Loki," the Asgardian said in a voice only a little higher than a whisper.

"Yes," Virgo said, "Thanos had hoped that with the change of rulers approaching in Asgard, the realm will be violable to inside sabotage. When that did not work, Thanos keep Loki under his control. However, Thanos kept him under his control longer than can be considered safe."

The shock on the Asgardian's face turned to that of fear.

"What do you mean?" the man in the jumpsuit asked.

"A person can stay under the control of the stone for a period of a couple of months with no worry, yet going past time is unwise. Loki his been under the control of the Mind Stone for almost 3 years now."

"What damage has this done to Loki?" the Asgardian asked worry showing clearly through his voice.

"Simply put if one is under the control of the stone for that long a time, part of the stone's power will fuse with that individual," Virgo said.

"So Loki has the power of this Mind Stone," the man in the jumpsuit asked.

"Yes and no," Virgo said.

"What do you mean," the Asgardian asked.

"The power is stored in Loki, but Loki himself will never be able to reach it."

"If Loki cannot use the power, why do you need him?" the man in the jumpsuit asked.

"While he cannot use the power, that power can be transferred from him. It can than be made into a weapon that will counteract that gauntlet. This weapon will only last of one use, but it will be all that is needed to stop Thanos trail of destruction."

"And what of Loki?" the Asgardian asked.

Virgo looked at the Asgardian with interest. Now that he had spoken with him it was clear that this Asgardian will not join him. Yet, that did not mean he did not have an ally in the man in the jumpsuit.

"What does the life of one Asgardian prince matter against the lives of countless billions?" Virgo asked.

"What of Loki?" the Asgardian asked again.

"Sadly he would not survive the process," Virgo said. "A minor inconvenience, but it is of little matter."

At this the main in the jumpsuit gripped the Asgardian's cape to stop him from attacking Virgo.

"So you would kill an innocent man, in order to build this weapon," the jumpsuit man said.

"It is for the greater good," Virgo said, "You protect this world, sure you understand that in order of the world to remain safe sacrifices have to be made."

"I doubt Loki will feel that way," the man in the jumpsuit said as he tightened his hold the the Asgardian's cape, who looked as if he wanted to kill Virgo where he stood.

"Yes, I do not believe he would want to be a part of a spell that involves pretty much gutting him like a pig," Virgo said, "However, it…"

Virgo was unable to finish. The Asgardian had broken free of the man in the jumpsuit's hold at that remark by Virgo. He had reached through the bars on Virgo's cell and gripped him by the collar. Pulling him to where Virgo's face was only an inch from his own.

"If you so much as lay one finger on my brother, you will have more to worry about from than Thanos."

At this Virgo's eyes widen.

"You're Prince Thor," he said.

Before anything else could be said, the man in the jumpsuit pulled Thor off of Virgo and lead him out of the room. Once again Virgo was in the room by himself.

Thirty minutes after his conversation with Virgo found Thor in his assign quarters packing up his few belongings. He was going home.

There was a knock at the door. Turning Thor saw Captain America standing there.

"Heading back, I was under the impress that you were going to help us track down the scepter," he asked.

"I am sorry my friend; however, a threat has been made on my brother's life."

Captain America nodded.

"Also my brother is innocent, yet he still sits in the palace dungeons. I will not have him there any longer than he needs to be," Thor said.

"I am sorry, but my family comes first," he added.

At this Captain America held out his hand. After his time on Midgard, Thor knew the meaning behind this gesture. He took the captain's offered hand.

"It has been a pleasure servicing with you. I wish you all the best. I would offer to help, however the danger that the specter offers to earth means that I cannot leave with its still unaccounted for," Captain America said.

"I understand and would do the same in your place," Thor said.

"If you ever do need help, remember that you have friends here," Captain America said.

"I will," Thor said.

Before either of them could say anything else, the warning alarms went off. They stay there long enough of surprised looks to appear on their faces before running off to the holding cell.

When they got to the holding cell the smoke was just starting to clear. It could no longer be called a holding cell. The bars had been melted down and the down the outside door had been blasted clean off. The prisoner was gone with no clear path that he had taken.

Thor took one look at the damage before turning to Captain America.

"I have to leave now," Thor said.

At this Captain America only nodded.


	3. Thor Arrives in Asgard

Business continued as always in Asgard, completely unaware of the news that Thor brought with him. The eternal city was always busy. Warriors training out on the fields, merchants selling their goods and people coming and going everywhere. The palace shown over everything, giving Asgard its golden appearance.

While the palace could be seen clearly from the Biofrost; it was still a relatively long walk from the Biofrost to the palace. Thor wasted no time and heading toward the palace. He needed to talk to the king immediately. The distance gave him time to think however.

" _How could I have been lead to believe that my brother was capable of all of this on his own free will? Why didn't I notice something was wrong? Loki sits in a dungeon cell, when he is innocent and I have done nothing to fix this."_

With this thought Thor becomes more determine than ever. He may have failed his brother in the past, but he will not fail him this time.

He will prove Loki's innocence, get him out of the dungeons, free him from the Mind Stone and keep him from this new threat.

When Thor made it to the palace he ran through the gates and up the corridors. The guards and servants where surprised to see him, thinking he would not be back for something. They quickly bowed to him as he passed. Thor paid them no mind, he was focused on finding his father.

Odin was sitting in the gardens when Thor found him.

"My son, it is good to see you have returned safely," Odin says when Thor reaches him.

"Father I needed to speak with you urgently," Thor said.

"I have gathered was much, otherwise I do not believe that the servants would have had such a scare so early in the morning," Odin was with traces of a smile appearing on this face.

"Midgard was attacked," Thor said, "by a being from another world."

"Do you believe this being to be a threat to Asgard, my son."

"Yes, I believe they will set their sights on Asgard," Thor said. He than took a deep breath not knowing how his father will take what he was about to say.

"They came looking for Loki," Thor explained.

"The trouble your brother has caused appears to have no end," Odin said with a sigh, "do not worry your brother still remains in the palace dungeons where he will stay. There is nothing he can do to help this new threat."

"They are not Loki's allies," Thor said, he than told his father everything he had learned in the past day. He was determined that his father knew the whole story.

When Thor had finished, Odin did not say anything. Thor waited from a moment for his father to say something but it appeared that he wasn't. Odin simply walked to the garden bench a few feet behind him and set down.

"Father…" Thor said starting to get worried. Odin closed his eye and held up his hand, indicting for Thor to be quiet.

"You know on the day that I sentenced Loki, it felt as if I was ripping my own heart out of me chest." Odin said opening his eye to look at Thor. "Despite everything he has down I still saw him as my child. Everyone else saw a traitor who almost destroyed the realms, but I saw the child who used to sit on my lap while he learned to read."

"Loki had looked at me with such hatred and that look in and of itself was more painful that any blow from a blade. However, despite my feelings Loki had committed horrible crimes. Crimes that he would have to answer for. I could not be seen as weak, I had to treat Loki like any other criminal. Than Loki said something that I will never forget as long as I live, 'If I am for the axe, then go ahead and swing it.'"

A tear started to form in Odin's eyes.

"I lied to him," Odin said. "I told him that the only reason he still lived was because of his mother, but the truth is that I could not execute my child. And no matter what crimes he had committed he was and will always be my child. Sending him to the dungeons was the hardest thing I ever had to do."

Thor sat down next to his father.

"Loki is innocent; we can free him from the dungeons…" Thor started.

"No!" Odin all but shouted.

Thor could not have been more surprised if Odin had punched him in the gut. With Odin's response to the news of Loki's innocence Thor believed that Loki would be getting out of the dungeons within the hour.

Before Thor could recover from the shock of his answer Odin began to explain.

"Thor what do you know of the titan Thanos and the Infinity Stones?"

"No more than what I have just stated," Thor answers.

"The Infinity Stones are some of the most powerful items in all of the Nine Realms. Alone they can cause great sorrow, together they can bring all of creation to its knees. The Mind Stone's ability to control the minds of others is well documented. When a person is placed under the control of the stone, that control can only be broken with the stone itself. How this is done I do not know."

Thor may not have known much about the stones, but he knew this was not true.

"That is not so. I have had allies that have been under its influence who have broken free of this control without the stone," Thor said.

"Tell me, was Loki the one to put them under its control," Odin asked.

"Yes, however I do not see how…"

"Loki was never in control, so those allies of yours came to be control through a puppet. This made the hold on them considerably weaker and therefore easier to break. The stone was not required to set them free, for Loki however things will not be as easy," Odin said. "Based one what you have heard the one who put your brother under the stone's control was not being controlled by the stone, so the stone will be needed to free him."

"Loki may be innocent, but his is still under the control of the one's whose crimes lead him to the dungeon," Odin said his voice becoming very small, "He cannot go free."

"Than at least let him out of the dungeons," Thor said. "We all know that Loki is being controlled, we will know to keep an eye on him. We can put him somewhere that is better suited for a prince of Asgard."

"It appears you haven't visited your brother lately," Odin said. "When he was sentenced, your mother had almost all of the furniture from his bedchambers moved down there. As well as a large collected for books for his enjoyment. His cell is quiet comfortable when it is compared to the other cells in the dungeons."

"It is still a dungeon cell."

At this Odin put his hand on Thor's shoulder.

"Thor, do not think for a moment that I do not want your brother out of the dungeons. However, it is primarily for his own safety that he must stay. Thanos, the being who controlled your brother, is one of the most powerful beings out there. The numbers of lives he has taken in his quest to gain the affections of Lady Death is unimaginable, and many have fought against him and fail. People have lost a great deal to him and fight against him. This fight always ended the same way. If news comes comes out that there may be a weapon that could defeat him, numerous people will go after it. It does not matter to them that in order to get this weapon it will cost your brother's life. Thanos had killed millions, taking one life to stop him will not seem like a crime."

"If they attempt to kill Loki, Thanos will be the last of their worries," Thor said.

"That may be so, but it would be wise to make it hard to get to him," Odin said. "I could not execute your brother when it looked like he committed so many terrible crimes; I will not allow anyone to come here to kill him. No matter who they are fighting. The dungeons are the most guarded place in Asgard, one would have to go through the royal palace to even get there. It is the safest place for Loki."

"So you will keep Loki caged to protect him for these would be assassins," Thor said.

"Yes," Odin said.


	4. Where Loki Was

While Odin thought that his son would be safer in the dungeons, he did not think he would be safe in the general population. There was a dungeon that was kept separate from the others. This one was kept for prisoners awaiting execution, ones who were too dangerous to be keep in the general population or those who were from noble families of the other realms. With the threats made against Loki's life, it appeared that moving him to this dungeon would be wisest. It would be harder for any would be assassins to get to him.

Odin knew the kind of power that the Mind Stone would have on Loki. If Loki saw a way to escape, he would take it.

Knowing what sentence Odin would give Loki after the events on Midgard, Frigga had had his current cell furnished for him attempting to make him comfortable. With this new change Frigga was determined to do the same thing. So she and her maidservants had followed Odin down to the dungeons. They would be moving all of Loki's possessions after Loki himself was moved. To move Loki Odin had come with a handful of palace guards and Thor, determine not to let Loki have a chance to escape.

"Why isn't this a sight," Loki said with a smirk, "Here I was planning to spend my time staring at the ceiling by myself and now there is a whole entourage."

Odin said nothing to Loki's remark and nodded to the guards quickly surrounded the the cell with their weapons drawn. There was no where that Loki could go. The lead guard than took down the golden field that was separating Loki from everyone else. After that the lead guard walked up to Loki and placed his hands in the cuffs that would limit his magic.

Loki did nothing but glare at the guard and than everyone else in turn. Once Loki was secure they lead him toward his new cell leaving Frigga and her servants alone.

Frigga looked around the cell. While there was nowhere near so many possessions here as Loki had in his rooms, he still had everything just as organized as always. Since Loki had been old enough to walk, he had wanted things organized. Everything he own had its place and he kept everything in its place. He was so diligent on this that the servants had little to do when they went to clean his chambers. Thor had been completely different on this matter, throwing his belongings around any which way and letting the servants pick up after. Loki's cell showed that this habit did not leave. Everything was neatly organized, from his books stacked in the corner to his personal hygiene items placed on the washstand. The sight made her smile a little, her baby was still in there and his cell showed that.

Frigga paid close attention to where everything was while the servants packed things up. She would make sure that everything was put up in the exact same matter in Loki's new cell. The less work her son felt he needed to do the better. However, she knew from experience that Loki would find something that was not put in place.

That thought gave her pause.

Loki was this organized, not only with his possessions but also with his actions. It was easy to see how Thanos had used this trait to his advantage. However, it meant that Loki didn't just go to some different realm in order to clear his head. Loki had picked where he went and Loki would still remember were he was when he was taken. He would also know where Thanos had kept him. While this would appear obvious, this information could do wonders in finding a way to help Loki.

There was no doubt about it. Frigga will be questioning her son when they got him to his new cell.

It didn't take long for the servants to get all of Loki's belongings up and ready to move.

When they got to Loki's current cell he was standing in the center of it glaring at them and the guards who stood outside of his cell. Loki was still in the cuffs, and would stay in them until Frigga was finished.

When Frigga and the servants approached the guards quickly formed the same circle around Loki's cell as the one they did when Loki was moved to his new cell. Frigga nodded to the lead guard and the field around the cell came down.

Loki soften his glare when his mother stepped into the cell.

Without waiting for orders the servants started putting furniture up around the cell, doing their very best to keep everything in the same order that Loki had it in his other cell. When they were done Frigga waved them off and turned to look at Loki.

When the servants left Loki started.

"So Odin finally came to his senses and decided to do away with the monster," Loki asked.

"I do not know what you are talking about," Frigga answered.

"Don't give me that, you and I both know that these cells go to those about to be executed."

It was all Frigga could do to keep the pain from showing on her face when she heard the hope in Loki's voice at the possibility of his execution.

"You were moved to this cell for your own protection, nothing more," Frigga said.

"Seems like a lot of trouble to go through for the safety of a Frost Giant," Loki said.

"And the very least that can be done to insure the safety of a prince," Frigga said.

Loki gave a small chuckle at this. "We both know I have never been a prince; Thor is the prince of Asgard."

At this Frigga shook her head.

"You have been a prince since the day you were born. Your biological father, Laufey, had been king of the Frost Giants so you were born a prince. When he abandoned you, Odin found you and him and I adopted you making you a prince of Asgard. You hold that title the same as Thor."

Loki smirked at this, "So I'm the prince of the dungeons, how quaint. Now tell me why it became so important for my safety to be moved to this grand new cell."

"I believe you already know that," Frigga said. Frigga waited a moment for Loki to respond and when he didn't she continued.

"Where did Thanos capture you?"

The question caused Loki's eyes to go as wide as saucers, however as quickly as the surprise came on his face it had disappeared.

"Mother I have always believed that you were a rational person, not one to come up with such crazy ideas as that. I was never captured by Thanos. Every decision I made, I made for myself to get me the power I deserve."

Frigga was expecting this answer. She knows that the power of the Mind Stone will not allow Loki openly admit that he was under its control. She asked that question for Loki's well being. So that he will know that they knew his actions are not his own.

"Very well, then I believe it is time to get some answers from you," Frigga said taking a sit in one of the chairs provided for Loki's use.

"Where did you go to get the Jötunn into Asgard?"

"Where else if not Jötunheimr?" Loki said.

"If that was the case both King Laufey and Heimdall would have seen you?" Frigga said.

"You would be surprised how blind you're so call all seeing gatekeeper is," Loki said, "The Dark Elves could get by him and he would never even know."

This answer surprised her, but she continued on.

"So why did you let them into Asgard?"

Loki laughed at this, "I already explained that one to ruin Thor's big day."

"Where were you during the year after you fell from the Bifrost and before you showed up on Midgard?"

"Mother you are just fishing for information that I have no attention of ever giving you," Loki said.

To this Frigga nodded and stood up.

"Very well," she said, "I hope you will be comfortable here."

"In a cell in the dungeon," Loki said with a snort, "Lucky me."

Frigga said nothing to this and exited the cell. Once she had left the force field went right back up.

Loki did not know it, but he had given her the answer she needed, now all she had to do was go and talk with Odin.

She found Odin sitting at his desk in their chambers.

"How is he?" Odin asked without even looking up from his work.

"As well as expected," Frigga said.

"Don't worry he will not be in there long," Odin said, "I will find a way to free him from the control of the Mind Stone."

"A good place to start will be to look for information where Loki was captured," Frigga said.

"Yes, yet we know not where that was," Odin said turning to his wife.

"Do not be so sure my husband," Frigga said as she walked over. "Our son is a very organized and thought out person. Loki would not go through a portal or passageway to another realm, without knowing where it went."

"That may be true but it is unlikely that he will give us that information," Odin said, "The Mind Stone will keep him from telling anything that could lessen its hold over him."

"Not if he hided the answer as something different, like an unrelated commit."

With this Frigga had Odin's full attention.

"I had thought that if I talked to him I could get something out, and I did," Frigga explained.

"How so?"

"When I asked him how he went to Jötunheimr without Heimdall seeing him, he said that Heimdall did not see everything. Dark elves could get by him."

"He went to the realm of the elves," Odin said.

Frigga nodded.

"Than that is where I will go," Odin said standing up he went over to his wife and kissed her on the forehead. "Do not worry my love, if there is a way to free our son I will find it."


	5. The Calm Before the Storm

Thor emotions were everywhere at the moment. Months ago he had felt betrayed by his brother and would have told anyone that he belonged in the dungeons of Asgard. Now, well now he did not know what to think. His brother went from being a betrayer to a pawn. He went from feeling like he could never trust his brother again to feeling that he should have noticed what was going on.

Thor sighed.

That was the hardest thing for him, he felt that he had failed as a brother. What kind of brother was he if he could not even notice that his brother was being controlled? When he was a child, he did not have many friends. He spent most of his time within the palace walls. This had been the case because as the prince of Asgard not only did he need to be protected but he was expected to learn how to be king. Being a child was just something that had to wait. However, during this time he had had Loki. Loki was also a prince and had the same lessons that he had, had the same restrictions and the same expectations placed upon him. When they had the chance to be the children they were Loki was the one he had played with. It was this way until they reached their adolescence when they were let out of the palace and able to make friends of their own. Even as Thor made friends Loki was always there for him. He always knew what was happening with Thor and was there to help.

Thor looked out of his window at the pond on the palace grounds. As children Thor and Loki would often go swimming there. At least they would when they thought their father wouldn't notice. Looking at the pond Thor's mind went back to one sunny afternoon in their childhood.

" _It was no fair," Thor thought as he threw the stones into the pond. "Everyone else his age got to go to the festival, why couldn't he. Why did he have to go to some royal meeting and lesson to boring political talks while the servants' children were out watching magicians and eating sugar treats."_

 _With that thought Thor slammed all of the rocks he was holding into the pond._

" _Well that's real princely," said a voice from behind him. Thor turned to see Loki sitting on a boulder next to the lake._

" _Who says I want to be a prince," Thor growled at his brother. Instantly Thor regretted it. It wasn't Loki's fault he couldn't go to the festival, in fact Loki couldn't go to the festival of the same reason._

" _Okay so you are not a prince today, but you are making a horrible rock skipper," Loki said getting down from his perch and walking over to where his brother stood._

" _What?" was all Thor could think to say to this._

" _Why would any one throw rocks into a pond if they did not mean to skip them," Loki said picking up a rock and tossing it out over the pond. The rock bounded five times before it fall into the pond._

" _That is sorcery and you know that it is unbecoming for a man to practice such arts," Thor said._

" _You say it is unbecoming because Asgard puts such high regard to being a warrior, but there are many man who are sorcerers in Asgard as well as the other realms. If it was truly unbecoming would father let me, a prince of Asgard, learn it."_

 _This quieted Thor for a moment._

" _Also just so you know, it was not magic that made that stone skip," Loki said as he picked up another stone._

 _When his brother did not answer Loki continued._

" _Its an old Midgardian trick, if a stone is smooth and is thrown in just the right way it will skip. I'll show you."_

 _With that Loki throw the stone he was holding to Thor. Loki demonstrated how to throw the stone. Following his brother's directions Thor throw the stone. It skipped once before falling to the bottom of the pond._

" _That's good for a first time, the last person I tried to teach this to couldn't get it to skip. After a while he swore that I had did it by magic," Loki said taking another stone and skipping it._

 _Him and Thor sent awhile throwing stones across the lake._

" _A lot can be learned by these stones," Loki said as he watched the one he thrown complete its fifth skip._

" _And was is that?" Thor asked getting frustrated, he had not managed to get his stones to skip more than once._

" _By their very make up these stones should simply sink, but with just a little thought it can do something completely different. Like how someone can be born a prince with all those pesky princely duties, but can still find ways to have fun and be a kid. They just can't do it the simple way, like going to the yearly festival," Loki said as he examined the rocks around the pond looking for one to throw._

 _Thor's mouth fell open._

" _How did…" Thor started._

" _It the same every year, you just don't want to say that that is why you're so upset. You want to go with the other children over lessoning to those idiots. While it might not be as easy for us as the other children we can still find time to act our age," Loki said._

" _Says the guy who has been disciplined more than anyone I know," Thor said._

" _The only other people our age you know are the servants' children; that is not much to go on seeing how they are often to nervous to talk to us and stay a good distance away," Loki said, "If you will trust me I'll show you a way we can have fun during the festival without getting into trouble."_

Thor gave a small smile at the memory. What would he give for his problems now to be as simple as not going to a festival? The memory also felt like a stab in the heart. His brother always knew what was going on with him, even when he said nothing. Yet, he couldn't notice when his brother was being controlled by some outside focus.

He was so distracted by his thoughts that he did not notice his mother walk in until she put her hand on his shoulder causing him to turn and look at her.

"Your father is looking into a lead that could help us free Loki," Frigga said simply. Thor only nodded not sure what to say.

"You are now in charge of Asgard," Frigga explained.

"That is not an easy task. With these threats on my brother there is a high chance of attack. We are likely facing an enemy we know nothing about," Thor said. "Also the control that this stone has over Loki makes me wonder if me brother is even in there."

"He is," Frigga said.

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because I saw him," Frigga said with a smile. "The way Loki kept his cell and his possessions are the same as it was before he was under Thanos control. He was also the one who gave us the lead on how to free him."

The shock Thor felt at this news was clear to see on his face.

Frigga nodded. "He had to hid it in a way that Thanos would not realize what he was doing, but he had managed."

"So there is hope for Loki, yet there is still the threat of an attack on our shore," Thor said.

"Heimdall will see anyone who attempts to attack," Frigga said.

"I hope you are right mother, but I am not so sure," Thor said. As soon as the words left Thor's mouth he thought of Loki's lesson. With a little thought something can be made to go against its design.

"Virgo will find a way into Asgard, but I think that is just what we want," Thor said.

"What do you mean?" Frigga said.

"They want Loki, but the Asgardian palace has one of the highest security in the Nine Realms. If he comes he will bring all his forces. We will see what his forces are, as well as knew how to fight them. What better place to fight than on our own lands by our own terms? Also once they fail here it will take them time to regroup. Giving us time to figure out how to save Loki," Thor explained.

"Yet, if this fails it could cost Loki his life," Frigga said.

"I will not allow it to fail, mother. Loki will not die at the hands of Virgo or any of his men. But I must speak with the Lady Sif and the Warriors Three. If success is to be ours we must prepare for our enemy."

Frigga nodded, "And I will double the guard around Loki's cell."

"Very well," Thor said. "But don't worry, Virgo will not succeed."


	6. Virgo Comes to Asgard

Getting the portal open was easy enough. Asgard really should have looked for this a little better after Loki had used it.

Virgo found himself walking out on a small cliff side, looking out onto the capital city of Asgard. Truly the stories he had heard about the golden city did not do it justice. It was nighttime in Asgard, but somehow the city still shown in the darkness. A few lights were on inside the houses, as well as the street lamps. These lights shown against the gold in the architecture and through the river surrounded the city. Creating the appearance of a star shining in the sky. A truly beautiful sight.

After taking a moment to look at the city, Virgo started to look around the cliff he was on. Only a handful of people could fit on the top of the cliff at a time, but there was a steep passage do the left side of the cliff that could hold a good number of mean. This passage would lead them off of the cliff and into the city below.

A man stepped out of the portal behind Virgo.

"It will be a slow process, getting the men through here," he told Virgo.

"That does not matter, night has just fallen and Asgard will be quiet for a while," Virgo said, "The night should cover our movements, however we must move quickly. Once morning comes we will not have that cover and will easily be spotted. We must have all of our men in the city before that happens."

The man only nodded before heading over to the portal to signal for the first of the men to start coming through.

Virgo watched as his men, one by one came out of the portal and headed down the cliff. It was even slower than he thought it would be due to the need for silence.

This passage was almost completely unknown to the Asgardians. It was well hidden in the cliff side that surrounded Asgard. Not even Heimdall, the all seeing guardian of Asgard could see this passage. The magic surrounding the passage protected it. The passage had stayed hidden since before anyone now living in Asgard was even alive.

That was until Loki found it.

Loki only ever used the passage to get some time away from his family, and when Thanos got to him, it was used to get a handful of frost giants passed Asgard's defenses. Now it was time for Virgo to use it.

Virgo shook his head as the last of his men started down the passage. Odin should have looked a little harder for this passage. If Loki could get a few frost giants through, others could get through here as well. Now Odin will pay the price for his over sight.

There trip to the city was quick and quiet.

In his quest to defeat Thanos Virgo had managed to gain a lot of followers. With these followers he was able to get a few hundred volunteers for this attack. When he had gone to Midgard, he did not believe that such focuses would be necessary, to invade Asgard however all available resources were needed.

Still the numbers weren't that high compared to that of Asgard, so he would have to focus his attack on one part of the palace. He knew from his time with Thanos that the south side of the palace was the least guarded, so that is where he led his men to.

Despite the time it took them to get there, it was still dark outside and most of Asgard was sound asleep. His men quickly formed a formation and pulled out their weapons.

Virgo took a deep breath, if this was going to work timing was everything.

Once everything was in order he nodded to his men. A few dozens of them pulled out their staffs. Pointing them directly at the south side wall of the palace and fired.

The blast from all of the staffs shook the ground around them and the following explosion cause the wall to come down.

All hell broke loose.

No one was sleeping in Asgard any more. Finally noticing what was going on the southern guards sounded the alarms and ran to meet the invaders. The invaders wasted no time flooding into the palace. To the outside view it didn't appear that the invaders had any clear motive, spreading out in all directions, like looters looking for treasure.

Virgo had to hand it to the Asgardians, they responded quickly. It wasn't long before the palace guards and Asgardians started to fight Virgo's men as they made their way through the palace. The Asgardians were however greatly out numbered with dozens of Virgo's men storming the palace and an even greater amount attacking from outside the palace walls. There was strength in numbers and Virgo's men out number the Asgardians that came to fight, 10 to 1.

Everything was going exactly like Virgo planned.

The battle will cover his movements and he will be free to find Loki.

Virgo knew enough to know that Odin would be keeping his son in one of two places. Loki was either in his chambers or in the dungeons. If Virgo was to take a guess he believed Loki will be being kept in his own chambers. He just had to find the royal quarters.

Virgo headed to the stairs at the far side of the corridor. He was half way down the hall when a loud bang caused him to jump. He turned around just in time to see Thor use his hammer to knock one of his men into the wall.

Thor had joined the fight.

Virgo could not let Thor see him. Thor knew who he was and why he was here. He knew that if Thor saw him he would do everything in this power to keep him from completing his mission.

He could not allow that.

He started back toward the stairs when he thought of something.

If Loki was in his chambers in the royal quarters, Thor would not have left in order to fight. Thor would have stayed to protect his brother. Turning back to watch Thor, Virgo noticed that Thor was only engaging opponents that stood in his way. Thor was heading to a different staircase on the other side of the corridor, the one that would lead into the dungeons.

Virgo formed a fireball in his hand and threw it at Thor. It had just enough force to knock Thor down, allowing Virgo to get ahead of him on his way to the dungeons.

Virgo heard Thor roar in rage and picked up his pace. Thor being hot on his trail was not part of his plan.

Thor was a good bit bigger than Virgo and a lot better trained. Even with a head start there was no way that Virgo was going to out run him. When Virgo got to the end of the stairs he turned around and cast a spell on the top of the entryway to the stair. Instantly the roof of the stairway collapsed burying Thor inside. Virgo did not stop. It would only take Thor a minute to get though.

The path led him right to the dungeons, but there was no Loki.

"Dammit," Virgo said looking around. Every cell in the room was empty. After a moment Virgo noticed a small doorway off to the side of the room.

Without stopping to think, he went through it. On the other side of the door he found no less than ten Asgardians soldiers surrounding one cell and in that cell sitting up in the bed was Loki.

"Good evening gentlemen," Virgo said looking each soldier in the eye, "I will give you a choose. Let me take him off of your hands or I shall make this a very painful night for you."

"We have been tasked with the duty of protecting Prince Loki, and we are not about to hand him over," one of the guards said pulling his sword. The others were quick to follow.

Virgo simple smirked. He than casted a spell on the door to insure that Thor could not get in. And than ran at the nearest guard.

He had to say it was a lot harder to get past the guards than he thought it would be. It took him a whole 5 minutes to defeat them, as opposed to the 1 he thought it would take.

When the last of the guards fall Virgo turned his attention to Loki, who had been silently watching the fight. Loki waved his hand and made a knife appear in it, ready to defend himself. Virgo did not give him that chance. He pulled out a small dart from his coat pocket. The using his magic, shot it at Loki. The speed the dart came at made it to were there was little Loki could do. It went through the focus field surrounding the cell and landed at the base of Loki's neck. Loki stumbled for a moment before he dropped his knife and fall to the floor. With a wave of his hand Virgo took down the force field and stepped into the cell. He had gotten the last component he needed for his spell.

"I am sorry for what I most do, but you understand it is for the greater good," Virgo said as he picked Loki up.


	7. Thor vs Virgo

When the alarm went off, Thor's only thought was getting to his brother. He was many things, but a fool was not one of them. Thor knew that the chances of this attack being the work of anyone but Virgo was unlikely and if that was the case he was heading for Loki. He had to get to him first.

The fight was fierce to say the least. How many followers did Virgo have? There were invaders coming in from all sides. The outside walls were being bombarded, invaders were running in ever direction throughout the castle with Asgardians barely keeping them at bay and there seemed to be no end to their numbers. What kind of man was this Thanos if so many warriors were willing to go to war with Asgard for a small chance to defeat him?

What ever their goal was, they will not be activing it through murdering his brother.

It wasn't long before Thor is in the corridor where the walls had been beaked. There was pure chaos. The path to the dungeons was on the other side of this corridor, he had to go through. Thor took out Mjolnir and joined the battle.

He wasn't in the fight long before he was hit be a fire blast from behind. The force of the hit knocked him down and when he looked up he saw Virgo heading down the passage to the dungeons.

"No," Thor shouted. Thor ran after Virgo, however Virgo was quick and had had a head start. When Virgo made it to the end of the passage the ceiling of the passage fell in. Thor jumped back just in time to avoid being buried under the rubble. Thor quickly took out Mjolnir and started to dig his way out. When he reached the other ended, he headed straight for the chambers where Loki's cell was kept.

When Thor reached the door it was only to find that the door would not open for him. A spell had been casted on it. Knowing who had done this, Thor took out Mjolnir and started pounding at the door. He was despite to get into the room. Virgo was going to kill his brother. The spell on the door kept all sound from coming from the room, so Thor did not know what was happening.

After awhile Mjolnir finally managed to break through the door and a knot formed in the pit of Thor's stomach. All the guards his father had put there to protect Loki were laying on the floor, the force field around Loki's cell was down and Loki himself was gone.

At that moment one of the guards stirred. Thor went to the guard.

"What happened?"

The guard slowly came to. Thor was just about to repeat his question when the guard answered.

"A sorcerer came for the prince. We did the best we could, but it wasn't enough. Forgive us my lord, we failed in our duties to protect the prince."

Thor's grip on Mjolnir tighten.

"You have nothing to apologize for," Thor said. "Virgo will not leave Asgard with my brother. Stay here a healer will be here soon to tend to you."

With that Thor left the dungeons. All they had done to protect Loki and it had done little good. Loki had to stay in the dungeons to protect him, yet Virgo had gotten to him as easily as if the doors had been left open for him.

The battle was still going on. Asgard had managed to get its men to the scene of the battle and was now on equal footing with the invaders. The fight however held little interest to Thor, he needed to find Virgo.

Virgo had been determined to do this spell of his, so he would not take a risk of not finishing it. Removing Loki from Asgard would take too much effort and with this many Asgardians in the fight chances of them not noticing someone taking the prince away would be unlikely. Also Virgo's men did not appear to be making any attempts to retreat.

Virgo was going to do the spell here; Thor just knew it. The only question was where and if Thor didn't find him fast it could mean his brother's life.

Thor ran through battle paying little attention to it. The chaos of the battle made it hard for Thor to think. Thor's distraction cost him. A blast of energy hit him from behind. The burn on Thor's back was only a small wound, he had had much worse. He quickly pulled himself up and spared his attacker a glance. It was than that he noticed the weapon that was used against him, it was a magical staff. This weapon was not uncommon in the Nine Realm and very deadly when in the right hands. While the weapon did not injure him it did give him an idea.

Asgard's Vault, where Asgard kept dangerous magical artifacts.

The vault was located under the castle and the Asgardians warriors knew to keep the fight away from that spot. It would be the perfect place of Virgo to go. With little else to go on Thor took out Mjolnir and used it to fly himself over to were the entrance way to the vaults were.

The hall to the vaults were empty of invaders, however the guards stationed at the vault lay unconscious on the floor. Thor threw up the door to the vault to find materials laid out in a circle for a spell. Loki himself was laying in the middle of the circle.

Thor rushed over to his brother. He did get very far when a spell thrown him back.

"Why can't you understand how important this spell is to the future of the universe?" Virgo said as he stepped over to were Thor fall.

"I will not allow you to kill my brother," Thor said.

"So of the sake of one life, you will risk so much," Virgo asked.

"There is always more than one way to defeat a foe," Thor said.

"This is the only way," Virgo said simply than charged at Thor. Thor however was not giving him any ground. As far as he was concerned Virgo had lost the second Thor had found him.

During the battle Thor throw Mjolnir past Virgo and out into the hall. He than promptly punched Virgo in the face. Virgo was unaffected by this and smiled.

"So much for the son of Odin, you were nowhere near hitting me. And now you are without your weapon," Virgo said.

"I do not need a weapon to defeat you, I will destroy you with my bare hands if I need to," Thor said. The fight went on for some time. As soon as Thor would get the upper hand, Virgo would do something dirty. As Virgo gained the upper hand Thor would appear to find new strength. The pair was evenly matched. While they fought Virgo did not notice the door to the vault up.

After a while Virgo managed to throw Thor away from him into the wall. The focus of the impact appeared to knock Thor out.

Growling in frustration, Virgo gathered up the supplies for his spell and Loki. He needed to retreat. Before long the sounds of the bells went off signaling the retreat of the enemy from the castle and it wasn't long after this that Thor got up and smiled.

"How long will the allusion hold?" Thor asked.

"Queen Frigga say that it should last about a day," Fandral said. "She is a little more advanced in her magic than Loki. His can only last of few hours and cannot be made solid."

"How is she, it takes a lot of energy to make a solid duplicate?" Thor asked as he got to his feet.

"A little tired but alright," Fandral said.

At this Thor nodded. "And Loki?"

"Whatever he was hit with knocked him out good, but according to the Queen he should be fine. Your idea to use Mjolnir to lead us here may have well saved his life."

Thor placed his hand on Fandral shoulder, "Thank you my friend."

After that Thor made his way to the healing chambers where he knew that his mother and brother would be. When he got there it was to find the place almost a mad house. Warriors were being brought in to be cared for and healers were running around do what they could for them. His brother laying on the bed at the furthest corner with his mother sitting next to him.

When Frigga had noticed Thor present she got up and went to him, pulling him into a hug.

"It appears we were lucky today," Frigga said as she pulled away, "Causalities were low and there were no fatalities and the damage was minable."

"How his he?" Thor asked looking at his brother, while he had asked Fandral earlier he still had to be sure.

"He is unharmed whatever Virgo had used on him appears to have only knocked him out. Which is not surprising seeing how he needs Loki undamaged to do this spell of his. Even still I will like for Loki to remain in the healing chambers until we can be certain that there are no ill effects." Frigga said looking back over at her son.

"And than what," Thor asked, "It will not take long for Virgo to notice that the Loki he has is a duplicate. With how fast he went to start the spell here I will say he should know within the hour. We also do not know how him and his men got in, so at this moment we are at a disadvantage."

"I am willing to bet that they got in the same way that the frost giants got in three years ago. We never did find the opening that Loki used." Frigga said.

"So he can still get to Loki," Thor said, "We will need to be prepared for his return."


	8. Change of Plans

The landscape had not changed much in the centuries since the Asgardians and the Dark Elves done battle. It was still a barren wasteland from what Odin could see. He remembered coming here as a boy. The war had been raging on for sometime and Bor was determine that Odin be prepared for it. His mother had not been pleased with the idea of Odin going to a warzone.

Than there had been activity everywhere. Soldiers moving back in forth through camp, sounds of far off battles and a feeling of unknown in the air. Now the place was quiet. If one did not know any better, they would assume that there had never been any life here.

Odin himself would never want to return to this place, but he could understand why Loki would come here. For Odin this was the place the he had seen battle for the first time, come to understand how fragile life could be, as well as how violent it could be. Loki had none of these connections to this place, that war being centuries before he was born. For him this would simply be a quiet place to go, away from the pressures of the palace and his brother. A place to be by himself.

Odin sighed, so he knew why Loki was here but that does not explain how he got there or what happened here.

Odin started down the nearest hill. He did not know where Loki had been when he ran into Thanos, but he thought he had a good idea on where to start. During the war between Asgard and these beings there was one battle where the elves had called upon some of the natural magic of their world. The elves managed to lure the Asgardians to that location. It was a move that had almost cost Asgard that war.

Whatever portal Loki used to get here, as well as however Thanos got here, it was likely in that spot. Which was why he had Heimdall send him here to the hillside over looking it. Odin made a lot of mistakes as a parent, but he would do what he needed to do to protect his son. He was going to find answers.

Thanks to centuries of battle, Odin could see the evidence of a battle having taken place here in the last few years. It appears he had found where Loki was attacked.

Odin took Gungnir and struck it to the ground. Gungnir had a great deal of power and one of its abilities that was often forgotten was its ability to look into the past. This power was limited only allowing the user see brief glances of the past and only of if Gungnir user was at the place where the events had happened. It was so limited a power that Odin had never even had use of it, until now.

Now it will tell him what happened to his son, and hopefully give him some idea on how to save him.

Meanwhile in Asgard

"We were luckily," the palace guard told Thor. "For an attack like this to happen with no fatalities."

"What man leads an army into enemy territory, yet leaves it mostly intact with no deaths on his enemy's side," Thor asked.

"A very dangerous enemy," said a voice from behind them. Thor and the guard turned to see Frigga standing in the doorway. The guard bowed to the queen.

"How so mother," Thor asked as Frigga walked over to join them.

"This Virgo clearly believes what he is doing is for the greater good. He is fighting a great evil and as such is justified in his actions."

"If that is the case wouldn't he have no issue killing those that stood in his way, justifying it as being for the greater good?" Thor asked.

"That would often be the case with such men, however not here. It appears that Virgo sees himself as righteous and as such does not want to kill those he does not have to. With this in mind he would have ordered his men not to kill any protecting Asgard unless there was no way around it. To him killing Loki to get this weapon really is a necessary evil. A goal that he most do," Frigga said.

"While at the moment it appears he wants to protect innocent lives, rest assured that will not continue. The longer it takes for him at achieve his goals, the more dangerous he becomes. In time he will care little about the lives he takes. If he can cause this much damage when he is trying to cause as little damage as possible, you do not want to know what he will bring once he no longer cares," Frigga added.

"What kind of man is this Thanos that Virgo will go to such lengths to defeat?" Thor asked.

"I do not know anything about Thanos, your father does. However, this is one topic he does not wish to share with me," Frigga said.

"So we may have more than one enemy," Thor said.

"We must worry about the enemy we know of and not ones that we may or may not have. We must deal with the threat of Virgo before we can even begin to worry about what threats Thanos may bring."

Thor nodded seeing the wisdom in his mother's words.

"How is Loki?" Thor asked.

Frigga sighed. "While I know that Virgo would not but anything more than something to knock you brother out in that dart, I still had the healers look over him closely. No harm has been done to your brother. However, I have asked the healers to keep him unconscious. He is less likely to get into trouble that way and will be easier to move when the time comes."

"What?" Thor asked.

"I may have as many guards as we can spare watching Loki, but I do not think it will be enough. As you have stated last night until we know where the passage is Virgo can still get to Loki. Also, I do not know how to free Loki from this curse, but I know the answer lays with the mind stone. Loki took that stone to Midgard, and the stone is still in Midgard. That is where Loki should be."

"You want me to take Loki to Midgard," Thor said.

"Yes, him being near when the stone is found will make it easier to free him and the faster he is freed the better. I know you were there helping you friends find Loki's scepter. You should continue on that mission," Frigga said.

Thor could only nod.

After speaking with his mother Thor headed to the healing chambers. His mother was not lying when she said that she had as many guards as she could spare protecting Loki. The corridor was filled with them. All with their weapons out and alert.

They let Thor pass without question and he made his way to the end of the healing chambers.

Loki was in the same bed he had been in the night before now however, there were two guards standing on either side of the bed adding to the ones guarding the chambers. Thor waved his hand for them to leave. They bowed and walked to the end of the chambers, but did not leave.

Thor set down by his brother's bedside and took his hand.

"Mother says that you are still in there and for now I have to believe that. While I know you can't hear me right now, I think this will be the only time I can say it. Seeing as how ever time your conscious you are in the power of that fiend. I'm sorry I could not help you, I'm sorry that I did not notice that you were not in control of yourself and I'm sorry that I had thought so little of you," Thor said.

Thor sighed.

"I guess I should also apologies for using you a bait last night. I hoped that I could get a better idea on what we were up against, and I was not disappointed. We know the focuses that Virgo has and that will tell us what we need to fight him. I'm taking you to Earth, you will be safe there and we can get you the help you need."

Thor place his brother's hand down gently on the bed and stood to leave. As he turned to leave Thor stopped and took one last look at Loki.

"You have my word brother that you will be free again."


	9. Loki Arrives Back on Earth

The Avengers had just gotten back after a disaster of a mission and still no closer to finding Loki's missing scepter.

"How again are we even in this situation?" Tony asked no one in particular as he walked around the penthouse. "The we gave Loki's staff thingy to SHEILD, so how did they even loss it in the first place?"

"We been over this Tony, it doesn't matter how it was lost what is important is finding out where it is before anyone gets hurt," Steve said not even looking up from his notes.

They had been on this search for weeks and still have not been able to find any information about where the scepter was. They had managed to find some clues that had led them to a local gang in New York, but that had been a dead end.

In truth Steve had not expected it to go anywhere. The biggest thing the gang had been into was the local cocaine business. And while the leaders had been smart, he just could not see them out thinking SHEILD. Or keeping them on their goose chase.

No whoever had the scepter was not a fool and knew how to outsmart even the best minds of SHEILD.

"This is where you are wrong, Cap, if we know how…." Tony said.

Before Tony could finish there was a loud noise outside, sounding like a strong burst of wind was blowing directly on one spot on the top of the tower. Almost as soon as the sound was heard it ended.

"Sir, Mr. Odinson is here to see you," Jarvis said over the intercom.

"I thought Pointbreak went home to protect Reindeer Games," Tony said to the room.

No one said anything, but Natashia, Clint and Steve were all making their way past Tony to see what is going on. Tony just shrugged his shoulders and followed.

Thor meets them halfway from the roof, with Loki asleep in his arms. Before any of them could say anything, Thor starts.

"My friends I must ask for sanctuary here for my brother," Thor says lowering his head.

Tony opens his mouth to talk but is cut off by Steve.

"Let go get inside and you can tell us what is going on."

Thor nods and follows the group inside. Once inside they head to the living room where Thor places Loki on the couch. After making sure that Loki was alright Thor turns the gathered group. And tells them everything that has happened since he had last seen them.

When he finished, everyone just stared at him for a moment.

Tony broke the silence.

"You actually used your brother as bait and people think I am self-centered."

"Why didn't you take him to SHIELD headquarters, surely they will be better equipped to guard your brother," Steve said while giving Tony a pointed look.

"I do not believe so my friend," Thor said with his head down. "I was able to get Virgo to come to me because he knew were Loki was. I do not believe that I need to remind you how we learned of the plot against Loki in the first place. If Virgo were to discover that Loki is no longer on Asgard, SHIELD headquarters is the first place he will look."

"So, you hope to hide Loki by bring him to a place that Virgo may not be aware of," Natashia said.

"That is correct," Thor said.

Everyone was quiet of a moment.

"Pointbreak, you brought Reindeer Game's to the wrong place," Tony said.

"My friend, will you turn Loki away for the things that were not of his control."

"You didn't let me finish," Tony said. "You brought him to the wrong place, because it is likely that this mad man of yours knows about this tower. Think about it, this is where the battle of New York was centered making this a likely place to look for Reindeer games."

"I did not think of that," Thor said.

"My house in Malibu point however, is far enough away and well enough hidden. Also, no alien armies have come out of the sky by it."

"That will be very much appreciated," Thor said bowing his head.

"What about security," Steve said, "If Loki has no control of himself, he is just as much a danger as he was when we thought he was acting on his own freewill."

"You underestimate me, that house is where I keep most of my suits. Security there is just as high there as it is here." Tony said with a smirk on his face. "The only question I have is how long will mommy's little beddy bye time spell will last?"

"My mother's spell will last for two days' time," Thor said.

"Perfect," Tony said. "That gives us an enough time to get him over to Malibu and safe in a locked room before he can wake up and start causing trouble."

"Hold up of a moment," Client cut in. "Not that I don't want to help Loki, we still have to worry about that scepter of his. The one that we can't find and whoever was pulling Loki's strings is using to expand the power of the mind stone."

"The scepter is not expanding the power of the mind stone," Thor said.

"What do you mean?" Clint asked.

"According to my father the Infinity Stones' power cannot be expanded. The only way that Loki would have been able to control you was if he had the mind stone with him."

"If Loki had the mind stone, how was he being controlled by it?" Steve asked.

"At the time of the attack on New York, Loki had been under the control of the mind stone of at least a year and could no longer do anything that Thanos did not wish. The stone being in Thanos physical possession is of little importance at this point," Thor explained.

"So, the scepter has the mind stone in it. That makes things so much better now doesn't it." Clint said. "That makes finding the scepter all the more important. How are we going to focus on both protecting Loki and finding his scepter?"

"At the moment we have not been making a lot of headway," Natashia pointed out. "Our last few clues have been wild gooses chases. I think it's time to go about this in a different way. Before Thor got here Tony brought up a good point. We need to focus on how they got the scepter from SHIELD. Clint and I are the best qualified to do that and the rest of you can protect Loki and worry about finding out a way to stop this Virgo."

"Alright, me, Tony and Thor will be leaving with Loki in an hour. You two find out what you can about how the scepter left SHIELD possession. We keep us informed on anything you find out."

Everyone nodded.

"After we have Loki secure one of us will stay to guard Loki and the others will join the search for the scepter," Steve finished.

"Cap are you sure that one person will be enough to guard Loki?" Tony asked.

"At the moment Loki is under the control of the mind stone and cannot make any decisions or chooses without that stone. The stone is in the scepter, we find the scepter we can free Loki. Also, with the power that the mind stone possesses I do not want it out there for longer than it needs to be."

"So, focus on what we have been trying to do for weeks now, just with an added time crunch," Tony said.

"Thor, I believe that at the moment it will be best if you take the first few watches with Loki," Steve said, as if Tony hadn't said anything.

"I should be out there doing what I need to do to save my brother," Thor said putting his hand on Mjölnir's handle.

"I understand you want to do everything in your power to free your brother, but someone needs to guard him," Steve said.

"It sounds to me that this spell on Loki does not change the way he does things just his will in doing them, you know all of Loki's tricks which makes you the best candidate to keep him at Tony's," Natashia said.

Steve nodded and added.

"Also, you told us that your mother was able to react the real Loki, if we can do that again we may have a better chance of helping him. You're his brother, if anyone could reach him it will be you. The best place for you to be to protect you brother is there with him."

"Think about it Pointbreak, do you really trust anyone else with your brother in the state he is in other than yourself. Even if it was, say yours truly," Tony added.

Thor looked at his brother who lay sound asleep on the couch.

"You are right my friends it is in my brother's best interest if I was to stay with him," Thor said he then made a point to look Steve directly in the eye.

"I am to be keep in the loop of anything that has to do with my brother or the scepter."

"You have my word that you will be," Steve said.


	10. A Shocking Discovery

With the Avengers jet it didn't take long to get to the house in Malibu. A room was found for Loki. The cuffs that Asgard had him wear to limit his power was kept on. And with the bullet proof window, chances of Loki getting out was limited. To add to the security Tony added extra security cameras to the house, as well as a tracker Loki. There was also SHIELD guards at every enter into the house. This way they could see and monitor what Loki was doing, while giving him more freedom than he had in Asgard.

Tony and Steve were preparing to make their way out. As he was leaving Tony place the remote in Thor's hand.

"There you go, buddy something to keep you busy while we are away."

"You think I will waste my time on this box of pictures of yours when my brother is in so much trouble," Thor said.

Before Tony could say anything and start a fight, Steve cut in.

"We will keep you informed on our progress."

Thor nodded, "May there be luck for you in the coming battle."

With that Tony and Steve were gone and Thor was left by himself.

The first day past slowly for Thor, with Loki asleep and with the place well-hidden there wasn't much for Thor to do. Something that Thor had a hard time with. As a prince of a warrior race, sitting and waiting were not easy things for him to do.

Thor's quiet day was interrupted that night with a sound from the living room. Jumping up from his bed Thor looked at the tracker he had on his bedside table to see that it was Loki in the living room.

It appeared that Frigga's spell was a little shorter than thought.

Thor got up and headed into the living room to see what Loki was getting into.

When he got there, it was only to find Loki looking out of the large windows that surrounded the living room.

"If you were looking for a more secure prison, brother, this hardly seem like a wise choose," Loki said not even bothering to turn around.

"Virgo is unaware of the existence of this place so is unlikely to find you here. Making this a much safer place for you."

Loki chuckled at this.

"I was referring to the lack of confinement I have here," Loki said wave his hand indicting the size of the widow. "A large glass window to the outside does not make for a good cell wall."

"You will find that window particularly hard to brake, brother," Thor said walking closer to his brother. When he got closer he saw that Loki looked bother pale and tired, the long sleep his mother granted him doing nothing to help with in this.

"The hour is late brother, would it not be best to finish this conversation in the morning," Thor said.

"What difference does it make to me when we finish this conversation. Or have you forgot that I am a prisoner. I could sleep all day and stay awake all night, it will make no difference in anything," Loki said, still not looking at Thor as he went to stand next to him.

"If you were to do that it will make it harder to get back to your regular routine once you are free of the mind stone's control."

"You are still on about that aren't you, still thinking I'm being controlled by some outside force," Loki said finally turning to look at this brother. The new angle allowing Thor to see the bags under his eyes.

"Can't you see brother that I had finally gotten tired of being in your shadows, that I decided on my own that I was tired of being the one to clean up your messes. The golden boy that could do no wrong. The great future king who could not see any of his own faults. The prince who always saw to see needs first," Loki said with his voice getting a little louder after each word.

Thor knew that Loki had not had any control of his actions for some time, but he also knew that his brother was in there. It was Loki after all who told Frigga where Thanos had captured him. Thor knew that a lot of what Loki was saying now was his own words. Before Thor had come to earth, he had believed himself to be one of the greatest warriors that ever lived and did put himself before other people. He had thought about being king only in the terms of what it could do for him not the responsibilities that came with that title.

"I know that I have made mistakes in the past, brother, and many of them you are right to judge me for. But that does not make what has happened this last few years your chose. I also promise you, that will not be how it is going into the future."

Loki just turned away from Thor.

"You are blind brother, only believing what you want to see. Not noticing that everything is not what it seems, for even the strongest shield has it splinters."

With the Loki turned and left, heading back to his room, leaving his confused brother behind.

"That was an odd comparison for Loki to make," Thor thought as he went to the kitchen to get himself a drink.

Than it hit him like Mjolnir, Loki always choose his words with great care. It was not a comparison, but Loki was trying to tell him something that Thanos' control would not allow him to say outright.

Thor than looked out the window to see the SHIELD agents standing guard. Even the strongest shield have its splinters. The scepter was in the hands of SHIELD agents when it disappeared, something that little on Midgard could do. Even clue they got from SHIELD sent them on wild goose chases.

The person, who had taken the scepter was someone within the agency. The had a traitor in their mist.


	11. Running Again

"How did we not see this," Tony asked the room where all of the Avengers found themselves that morning.

As soon as Thor was able to he had told the others what he had learned from Loki.

"Is there any chance that Loki will be able to tell us anything else, like who is the one giving out information," Steve asked.

"I do not believe so," Thor said, "He had to tell me what he did through comparing your SHIELD to that of a warriors shield. The mind stone keeps a hold of everything he says, he will not be able to tell us anything out right."

"However, it appears that Loki knows how to work around it just enough to let just enough information out. He did this when he was talking to both you and your mother," Black Widow pointed out.

"That is true," Thor said.

"That doesn't mean that he knows who is behind this," Clint said. "Think about it all he did was point to something that made Thor notice some pretty obvious details. Like the fact that it was SHIELD agents who were guarding the sceptor and that all the leads we have been getting from SHIELD has been deadends. It is just as likely that Loki had noticed these issues without needing someone to point them out. If that is the case he is not likely to know is behind it anymore than we do."

"For now we should go on the belief that Loki doesn't know who is behind it. How do we find our spy," Steve said.

"If it is as simple as that," Natasha said.

When she had everyone's attention she continued.

"Think about, with an agency as large as SHIELD it would be very hard for someone to take the sceptor out all by themselves. Not to mention keep us running on all this little goose chases. If Loki is right, and using the same metaphor, if there is a splinter in our SHIELD there would have to be multiple splinters for it to have this much damage on a shield this big.

"So if SHIELD is crupted who can we truce?" Tony asked.

"At this moment the only people involved in SHIELD that I think we can truce are the people in this room and Fury," Bruce said speaking for the first time since he had got there. "Also there may be more issues than we are looking at here."

"How so," Thor asked.

"During this conversation you were having with Loki he had been talking about how this place isn't as secure as you think it is. Well, if it is true that people in SHIELD are working to undermined it and these people know about the sceptor it is likely that they know what is going on with Loki."

The room went so quiet one could hear a pen drop.

"If that is the case than it is likely that they will come here for Loki. People like that don't care who they hurt in their pursuit of power and they would have had access to the information that would have told them what Virgo wanted Loki for."

"Oh, Norms," Thor said bowing his head. "Can my brother not find santuray."

"I think we should find out if the same trick will work twice on two different groups." Tony said.

"What do you mean," Thor asked.

"You told us how you got Virgo to play his hand to early by using Loki as bait. Well I don't think that these traitors will be any smarter," Tony answered. Than added when he saw the look on Thor's face. "Now I'm not saying that we use Loki himself again as bait, I don't think anyone deserves to be used like that twice in one week. However, I just purchase this little cottage in Montana this week and no one knows about it. We move Loki there but keep up the illusion that he is here so that our traitors play their hand before they know what is going on."

"How many houses do you own?" Clint asked.

"This one, the penthouse in New York and now this cabin. I got the cabin because Pepper wants to have a vacation in the mountains and I thought this would be a nice surprise. So the house is secluded and no one knows that I have it."

"You know must people would just rent a cabin," Clint said.

"I'm not most people," Tony said.

"This might work, but we need to get Loki out of here safely and without anyone for SHIELD noticing," Steve said.

After that they made their plans and Thor went to talk with Loki. He found Loki sitting, in an armchair in his room with a book in his hand. The sight was a comfort to Thor. During their childhood Thor would often find Loki read some new book.

"May I ask what you are reading brother?"

"This wonderful Midgardian tale about an orphan boy who was raised by a terrible family, but had great power and glorious purpose. I can relate," Loki said not looking up from his book.

"Truly, brother you do not think our family was terribly," Thor said walking over to his brother.

Loki said nothing.

"We will be leave soon."

"I could have guessed that," Loki said continuing to read his book. "Could you ask Mr. Stark if he has the rest of this series. Voldemort has just made his return and I would very much like to see how this ends."

Thor sighed, "I will ask him."

"Let me know when you plan to get whatever useless idea of yours into action," Loki said turning back to his book as Thor walked out of the room.

Tony was waiting for Thor just outside of the room.

"He compared you to the Dursleys, that got to hurt," Tony said.

Thor did not know what Tony was refering to, but choose to ignore it.

"Are you sure this cabin of yours is safe and that no one else from SHIELD knows about it?"

Tony nodded.

"I really did just get it and I was trying to keep it a secret in order to surprise Pepper. I haven't been the most responsible person so Pepper feels the need to keep track of news and social media talks about me, so if anyone else learned about it Pepper would."

The plan was placed in motion. Tony kept a large number of cars in the garage below the house. One of them, his Hammer, had a large enough back that Thor could hide back there with Loki easily without being seen. The SHIELD guards had no reason to expect that they knew anything or do a detailed check of Tony's chair. Once they were an hour down the road, Thor and Loki would move out of riding and they continue the long drive to Tony's mountain cabin. And for once that was exactly how things went when they left the Malibu house.

Loki was away from Tony's house but to SHIELD's knowledge he was still sleeping in one of the guest room upstairs.

For the first few hours Loki was quiet, but around the sixth hour mark he decided to start talking.

"How long are we going to be in this vehicle of yours?"

Tony smiled, "So you do talk."

Loki only glared at him for that.

"It is actually a pretty long drive, we are not even a third of the way there."

"Surely there is a faster way to get to your destination than this."

"There is, but by going this way it is less likely that they well get to you. So just try and relax."

After that Loki didn't talk to them again for the rest of the drive. Not even when the stopped to fell up on gas and Thor had taken over driving. Thor had been fighting alongside the Avengers for so long that they had appartently found the time to teach Thor how to drive.

It was well into the night when the made it to the cabin. They lead Loki into a guest room and unpacked their belongings. The room they had lead Loki to was large with two beds in it. This cabin was not nearly as large or as secure as the house in Malibu was. As a result Thor would be sharing a room with Loki.

"Now it is only a waiting game," Tony said once they unpacked their things.

"Aye," was all Thor said.

The next week in the cabin was quiet, Loki spent most of his time looking out the window in either his and Thor's room or out the window in the large living room. Thor was worried greatly by this. Loki was not a very quiet person, always looking to out smart whoever was in the room with him. Tony did get Loki the rest of the series he was reading as well as a number of other books, which Loki would read. But for the most part Loki would do nothing. What made Thor worry the most was how little Loki appeared to be sleep. Loki would stay up to all times in the night, and only sleep when his body shut itself down.

Thor wondered if Loki had been getting so little sleep since after the Battle of New York. After that battle Thor had felt so betrayed by his brother that he had not once visited him. The first time he visited his brother was once he had learned of his innocent. Loki had lived in the dungeons of Asgard for three years and Thor had not visited him once. This lack of sleep could have been going on for even longer now that Thor thought about it. When Thanos would have taken over Loki was during a time when Thor was so full of himself that he didn't play his brother much attention. As long as Loki was fighting by his side he didn't worry to much about him. For years Thor had been so full of himself that anything could have happened and he would not have noticed it.

Something did happen.

Thor had thought that he had paid for his arigest, but he was beginning to see that he was only just beginning to pay.

It was during the second week at the cabin when they finally got news. A few SHIELD agents had broken into Tony's house and from them the others were able to learn the Hydra was involved with it.

Thor had no idea who or what this Hydra group was, but learning it was a step in the right direction. They now had a lead to where the Mind Stone was, and the faster they had that the sooner Loki would be free from its control.


End file.
